Gene Hunt doesn't DO talking
by Jotter
Summary: SamGene slash. Gene loses his temper once again with himself, with Sam and with the situation he's found himself in. Can Sam get him talking and work out what's wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own, nor claim to own anything to do with Life on Mars. That honour goes to the people at The BBC and Kudos. I'm just borrowing their characters and having a little play around with them. I promise they'll be all clean and shiny when I hand them back.

**Other bits and bobs: **This is my first Life On Mars fic, so I apologise if I've not got either character entirely right. I've deliberately made Gene a little bit more 'sensitive' then he sometimes appears on the show though. **It's also a slash fic, meaning a m/m pairing - so if you don't like that kind of lovin', don't read** - you've been warned and if I get flamed for it, I _so_ won't be a happy bunny. It's mainly dialogue based though, so nothing extraordinarilly racy lol. Language in parts isn't the sweetest - but it's nothing you wouldn't hear on the show as the fighting in the second chapter. Please do R&R, I'd love to know what you think - reviews make me happy lol.

**Chapter 1: "Jealous _a. _afraid, suspicious, resentful, of rivalry in love or affectionl envious (_of_ person or his advantages)"**

He watched as her confidence grew gradually over time. Little glances had turned into little touches and they'd turned into blushes as he'd returned the smile. It made him sick. He held the glass tumbler steady in his hands, staring into nothing whilst thinking about everything. He could only remember feeling like this once, a very long time ago. The fact that he could relate how he was feeling now to how he was feeling them scared him. And that in turn annoyed him.

"Damn you to hell!" he suddenly jumped up as though someone had put a match the puddle of petrol in him stomach. The glass tumbler didn't survive the collision with the wall and spread shattered glass over his floor and left a thin dribble of amber liquid making its way hurriedly down his wall. He stood, breathing hard in the middle of his office and looked around him. Gene Hunt was not a man to over complicate anything - if they looked dodgy, they most probably were dodgy. This situation he'd somehow found himself in, this was most definitely dodgy. And for once in his life, he didn't actually have a clue what to do about it.

Sam looked up at the sound of smashing glass and looked across to where Annie was standing with a pile of folders in her arms.

"I'll go" he nodded to her, rising from his seat and running a hand over the back of his head. This was the third time this week the Gov had lost it. And it was only Tuesday. He made his way to the double doors of Gene's office and gingerly pushed one open, walking through when he was sure that he wasn't about to get another glass thrown at his head.

"Gov?" he asked wearily, taking in the glass and the new stain on the wall.

"Don't bother Tyler, it wont help matters" Gene answered without looking at him, in fact he turned his back on his DI and made to pick up his coat. Sam watched as he put first his right arm into the sleeve and slung the camel hair coat over his left shoulder. Before he could really think about what he was saying, and who he was saying it to, he found his mouth open and words creeping off his tongue.

"Why wont you talk to me, Gov?" Sam asked softly, and Gene stopped midway though adjusting his cuffs. He turned around slowly and stared at the younger man. He snorted.

"Gene Hunt doesn't _do _talking Sammy-boy" he started, advancing on the smart-arsed know it all from Hyde "he does chasing criminals, catching bad guys, driving fast and having a pint or four down the pub" he continued, now standing in front of Sam, close enough to smell his aftershave and close enough to make out the look of concern in his eyes. "But he doesn't do _talking_" Gene spat out the last word and with one last look at Sam, side stepped round him and pushed his way through the doors into the corridor. Sam listened to him walk away whilst rolling his eyes.

"Glad to have sorted that out, then" he muttered, deciding against cleaning up the latest destruction caused by Gene's foul mood and making his way back to where Annie was now sat on his desk.

Later in the pub, Gene sat at the bar alone. Chris had only stayed for one, before skipping happily out the door to meet his 'girlfriend'. Gene wondered how any girl could stick around with a bloke that had once puked up all over her, but still. He watched as Chris had left, all beaming smiles and polished shoes, and he found himself hating him for his simple little life and his simple little uncomplicated girlfriend. He drained the rest of the glass and nodded towards Nelson to give him another which he dutifully did. Nelson carefully eyed his best customer and acknowledged that he'd never seen him in such a strange mood before. Normally, Gene Hunt could easily polish off five or six pints over two hours - tonight he was only on his third and he'd been here for an hour and a half all ready.

"Everytin' all right man?" he asked, picking up the next clean glass closest to his hand and slowly started drying it with the cloth over his shoulder.

"Eh?" Gene looked up from a ring of dried beer on the woodwork and realised he hadn't heard a word.

"I said, everytin' all right?" Nelson repeated again patiently. He was used to talking to customers. It was part of what made running a pub enjoyable for him.

"Fine" Gene replied automatically. Nelson looked at him sceptically.

"Don't believe you" he replied as Gene shot him a look that plainly said he didn't want to know. "What is it, Ale not tasting right tonight?" he nodded at Gene's untouched pint in front of him. Gene took a deep breath.

"Trust me Nelson, if the beer hadn't been tasting right, you'd be the first one to know about it" he replied and Nelson had to grudgingly admit he had a point. Gene was about to say something else, when the door opened and in walked DC Cartwright followed by DI Tyler. Gene looked round at them and the grip he had on his pint tightened slightly. Nelson nodded at Annie's greeting and smiled at Sam as he approached the bar.

"Gin and tonic and a pint please Nelson" Sam requested, then on seeing the man sat on the stool a few feet down the bar, added "and another of whatever he's having" whilst nodding in Gene's direction.

"Not for me Tyler, I'm off" Gene had heard Sam and drained half his drink in one gulp.

"But…" Sam had started before he was cut off again.

"Missus will have me dinner ready, don't want it to get cold now do I?" Gene drained his glass and stood up, bustling his way though the door to the street before Sam could protest any further.

"Right…" Sam said, half to himself, half to Gene's retreating back. He couldn't help the sting he'd felt from being dismissed so easily. Something wasn't right and he had to find out what. On seeing the confused looks on both Nelson and Annie's faces, he made up his mind to find out what he'd done wrong and sort it out once and for all.

"I'll be back in a minute" he said apologetically before following his Gov out onto the street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:** **"You ponce around with your fancy tactics and your head full of knowledge and you make me realise that I don't know everything."**

Sam caught up with Gene a few yards down the road and called out to him. He didn't stop walking.

"Will you just bloody stop walking for a minute" Sam reached out and caught hold of his arm, pulling him to a halt and turning the older man round so he was facing him. Gene glared at him.

"Get your hands off me, Tyler" he warned.

"not until you tell me what your problem is" Sam held his grip on Gene's left forearm fast. He started at him, hard - trying to somehow read his expression.

"I don't _have _a bloody problem!" Gene shook his arm hard and when that failed to release it, balled his right hand into a fist and drove it straight into Sam's stomach. That worked. Sam staggered backwards, unprepared for this to turn into another of their spats. "Now will you just piss off and get back to your little girlfriend and leave me alone!" Sam was hunched over trying to get breath back into his lungs as Gene turned and again started walking away from him.

"Is that what this is about?" he asked after taking a deep painful breath. He heard Gene's feet falter in their path slightly. "Is that why you're ignoring me?" he asked again, straightening up in time to see his Gov stop altogether. He saw those broad shoulders turn but was caught completely off guard by his next move. Before he could really register what was happening, Gene had him by the lapels of his jacket shoved hard against the wall and was speaking very quietly.

"Is that what you think is it, Tyler?" he said, rage spilling into every syllable. "That I'm pissed off with you for finally getting it on with Cartwright?" Sam blinked, suddenly very, very aware of just how close Gene's face was to his.

"er…" was all he managed to stutter

"Well you're completely" he shoved Sam's back hard against the wall "utterly" he did it again "wrong". Sam winced as the cold brickwork connected with his spine for the last time. He looked into Gene's eyes then, and saw quite plainly that he was hiding something. "I couldn't give a shit who you're shagging, Tyler, so get over yourself and stop thinking the world revolves around you and you alone" Gene finished, before taking half a step back and releasing the bunched up leather in his hands. Sam steadied himself and suddenly found he had all the answers.

"You're jealous" he said then, wishing he could have chewed his tongue off the minute he'd said it. But he caught the flicker of fear that passed through Gene's face before he was able to hide it. And then he knew.

"You're jealous" he said again, sure from that look that he'd uncovered the truth. "I don't bloody believe it" he muttered before a strong powerful fist connected with his left temple and sent him sprawling to the floor. "Do not presume to know me, Tyler!" Gene sent a kick into Sam's stomach, as Sam instinctively rolled into a ball to protect himself. "I am not bloody jealous of your poxy little relationship with Cartwright and don't ever dare try to tell me how I'm feeling!" Sam looked up at him from the ground and for the second time that day tried to re-inflate his lungs.

"Then what's with all this?" he asked, slowly beginning to crawl to his knees. Gene looked at him. "Why are you so bloody angry with me?!" he stood up slowly and steadied himself against the wall that not so long ago he'd been pinned up against.

"Because" Gene stated, as though that was enough.

"Because?" Sam asked, guarded against further attack now. "That's all you're giving me, because?"

"yes. Now if you don't mind…" he sniffed and put his hands into his pockets as though he was off home.

"you're pathetic" Sam cut him off and Gene glared at him. Sam was trying to prepare himself for another battering and looked the older man straight in the eyes.

"what did you just say?" Gene asked, turning to face him and automatically balling his hands.

"I said, you're pathetic" Sam repeated, bracing himself "You can't even tell me what the hell I've done wrong! Jesus Gov, ever since I bloody arrived in this shit hole you've been on my case but I've proved myself haven't I? I'm a good bloody copper Gov, and I wont have you skulking around the place glaring at me and beating the shit out of me just 'because' you can" Sam was breathing hard now, sure he was about to be reacquainted with the concrete. Gene stood inches away from him, staring him hard in the face.

"You want to know, Tyler, what my problem with you is, do you?" he asked dangerously.

"Yes" Sam replied, equally as venomous.

"You really want to know?" he'd somehow taken another step forward and Sam found himself backed against the wall again.

"yes. I do" He said clearly, feeling the Gov's hot breath against his face.

"My fucking problem with you, Sam - is that you've just strolled on into my town and completely turned my entire world upside down. You've made me doubt things that I've always known as certain. You make my team look at me and see a bad guy, not a good guy. You ponce around with your fancy tactics and your head full of knowledge and you make me realise that I don't know everything. You look at me like I'm shit on your shoe sometimes Tyler - and that fucking pisses me right off. And what really, _really _annoys me about you, is that I find myself bloody well _liking _you despite all this. I can't figure you out, you bastard and I hate how you make me feel!" Gene's hands had once again found themselves gripping Sam's lapels on his jacket and he pushed him back against the wall again for good measure before he realised that at some point amongst the diatribe he was spitting at him, Sam had worked his hands up between them so that he was now gripping Gene's wrists as hard as Gene was gripping his jacket. Sam was staring at him hard.

"And how do I make you feel, Gov?" he asked quietly, unsure of the answer he'd receive.

"Like it's 1964 again" the DCI answered, completely confusing Sam even further.

"What?" he replied, hands still tightly holding the wrists of the man pinning him to the wall. Gene sighed, realising somehow that he'd crossed the line that he'd never dared himself to even think about before now. He'd have to explain, and explaining was something that he wasn't that great at. That's why he tended to use his fists a lot, he let them do his talking and he got his point across much easier usually. He took a deep breath and dropped his gaze to the dirty concrete by his feet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: ""Bloody _hell_" he muttered, wiping his hands over his tired eyes. It had been one of the strangest days he'd had since he first opened his eyes to find 1973 staring bleakly back at him."**

"1964 was a good year for me, Tyler" Gene started his explanation and at the same time, released his grip of Sam's jacket. "I'd been made a DCI, I had a beautiful wife who I loved, I was catching more criminals that anyone could hope to get, and The Beatles had just released 'A Hard Day's Night'" Sam snorted at that last comment

"always thought you were a Stones man, myself" he muttered, unable to stop himself.

"Yes, well they weren't that great until they brought out 'Satisfaction' in '65" Gene replied before shaking his head. "Anyway" he continued his somewhat clouded explanation as Sam looked at him with a smirk on his face, despite the seriousness of the conversation leading up to the moment. "All was grand, until my wife met a certain Mr Alan Cooper, one ex friend and ex colleague of mine" Gene took a breath. "Up until she met him, I had not a reason in the world to doubt myself, I loved her and I thought she loved me too - until I saw the way that she looked at him and I realised I was wrong" Sam realised that he was getting more information about his Gov then he could ever have wished for at that moment. He also realised that none of the information he was getting made any sense at all.

"Gov, what does any of that have to do with me?" he asked exasperated, trying to understand where he was coming from.

"You're like Alan bloody Cooper all over again" Gene said then "you're making me doubt myself whilst taking my team away from me and they're loving you more and me less every bloody day! And as for Annie…"

"So you are jealous then" Sam stated plainly "you're jealous that Annie likes me more than you" he thought he had it figured out now, and couldn't understand why Gene was so worked up about it really.

"no, you pillock!" Gene exclaimed then, unable to keep his frustration under control anymore.

"then what…?" Sam started before he was cut off

"I'm jealous of _her _having_ you, _not_ you _having_ her_!" he spat out furious at himself, at Sam, at Annie and the whole damn situation. His heart was thumping against his rib cage so loudly he was surprised it was contained at all. He was so close to Sam now that he could easily have leaned forward a tiny bit and kissed him. God how he wanted to kiss him. He'd been dreaming out it often enough lately to imagine what it would be like - he wanted it to be soft and right, not born out of argument or anything remotely violent. Sam was worth more than that. He didn't know what to expect now that he'd opened his mouth and put both his size 10's into it. An expectant silence fell between them. Sam looked at Gene, and Gene looked back at Sam.

"oh" was all Sam could manage. That, he had _not _been expecting. He realised he was still holding onto his Gov's wrists, even though they'd dropped from his lapels a long time ago. "Oh" he repeated, releasing the older man from his grasp.

Gene seemed to snap out of his little dazed moment of calm then, as he suddenly seemed to stiffen and looked at Sam with a glare that would have scared the shit out of a weaker man.

"If you so much as _breathe _a word of this to _anyone… _I swear to God Tyler, the coppers in Hyde will never be able to find you in enough pieces to request you back there - do you understand?" he whispered as Sam nodded.

"Yes, Gov" he answered quietly, before Gene seemed to consider his answer.

"Good" he sniffed, before he stepped back and away from Sam and started walking away, leaving a very bewildered Sam Tyler in his wake to make his way slowly back to the Railway Arms, where his entirely platonic friend was still waiting for him, nursing a gin and tonic and conspiring with Nelson about where the Sheriff would bury his Deputy's body if he actually carried out his many threats to kill him.

Sam didn't stay long at the pub that night. He had a couple of drinks with Annie but convinced her that he had a headache and headed home. It wasn't entirely a lie, Sam mused as he walked back from Annie's flat to his own, massaging the temple that his DCI had decided needed an imprint of his knuckles on earlier in the day. He was still completely, utterly confused at the earlier outburst from his boss, but things were ever so slowly beginning to fit into place. The looks. The way that Gene sometimes stood _so _close to him. The apparent need Gene had to touch him, be it with his fists or his palms, it was still contact. The fact that his bad mood stemmed from when Annie had upped the ante on their little game of flirting back and forth. Then he remembered the way that he'd looked at him when he had him pinned against the wall back outside the pub. The look of unguarded desire that he'd seen in his eyes before Gene had rebuilt the defences and had threatened him with mutilation should he ever tell anyone what he'd said. It had been real. Sam had liked it. He found himself at his front door without realising where his feet had been taking him. He made his way up to the tiny bed-sit of a flat and fell unceremoniously onto his bed.

"Bloody _hell_" he muttered, wiping his hands over his tired eyes. It had been one of the strangest days he'd had since he first opened his eyes to find 1973 staring bleakly back at him. He drifted off to sleep quite quickly, but his dreams were full of faces merging into one to form some multi-faced beast that kept trying to swing an axe at him before the faces transformed again to form Gene's features with Maya's hair and clothes and Annie's voice. The many-faced monster then chased him down the street before he realised that his feet were slowly sinking into a bright white mist that was gathering around him and he couldn't run anymore. He was slowly being suffocated by the mist and that let the monster catch up with him. It had Gene's face as it was leaning over him and Sam wasn't sure whether he was about to be eaten or rescued, when he woke up covered in sweat and breathing hard. It took him a long time to get back to sleep again, more confused then ever.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** **"Well aren't you a regular little Chad Varah. Next you'll be telling me to call MAN 9000 and get it all off my chest"**

"Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle would be really proud of you now, Gene!" Sam shouted into his Gov's face the next afternoon as they stood outside the Lost Property room, trying to decide on the best way to deal with a potential armed robber-come-rapist in their charge waiting to be formally charged. Sam had just barged into the room having heard screaming and pulled Gene off the skinny little man who was lying on the floor crying and spilling blood from his nose and a cut over his eyebrow and bundled him outside to calm him down.

"I don't care what no poxy arsed scientists have to say now, Sam - they can take their theories and poke them up their arses!" Gene retaliated, drawing a cigarette from the packet and putting it between his lips. Sam smiled despite himself

"they're not scientists… they're… oh, never mind" he finished lamely, catching the 'continue at your peril' look that he'd just been sent. "What I'm saying, is that you've, well you've got issues, Gov" Sam attempted again.

"Issues?" Gene took a drag of his cigarette and looked at the younger man "issues?" he repeated at Sam's nod.

"With using violence against suspects. And anyone in general, actually. You need to talk more and punch less" he continued, remembering the bruises he'd woken up with that morning following their fight yesterday. Gene looked at him and blew some smoke out of his mouth.

"The only 'issues' I've got, Sammy boy is you spouting off crap like that! I'm bloody fine, now piss off!"

"I am not going to let you go in there alone with him, who knows what you'll do!" Sam exclaimed, putting his hands on his chest to stop him as Gene made to go back into the room. Gene looked at Sam's palms flat against his chest and smirked.

"Now who's jealous?" Gene whispered into his ear and grinned at Sam's surprised look. It was the first mentioning of the 'incident' that had been made all day and it caught Sam completely off guard.

"Oh, grow up" he fired back, pulling his hands away as though he'd been burned before following his Governor back into the interview room.

They got through the rest of the day without any real incident and each avoiding the other as much as possible. Sam found his mind wandering many times that afternoon. Wandering to Gene and to Annie. Wandering over how Annie, whilst very nice and lovely, didn't make him feel half as alive as Gene. Wandering over how the one, quick kiss he'd shared with Annie hadn't exactly set his soul alight. Wandering over how he'd struggled to control his body's reaction when Gene had pinned him against the wall yesterday and how it was only the complete fear of getting himself torn limb from limb that had kept him from embarrassing himself. Wandering over how at some points in the morning, when Sam found his gaze had found its own way over to Gene, he'd found his own matched by that of Gene watching him. He'd held his gaze for a split second longer than necessary and had looked away. Annie found herself unintentionally shunned throughout the day, and Sam cursed himself for being cruel to her. None of this was her fault really. It wasn't her fault that he didn't want her. He made a note to talk to her at some point soon.

Sam deliberately took his time finishing up his paperwork that evening and soon enough, the others had all made their way to the Railway for some after shift drinks. Annie had gone through the doors with one last look at Sam, who failed to notice it. When he was sure everyone had left, he made his way to Gene's office and stopped outside the room to compose himself before he pushed open one of the doors.

"bugger off home, Tyler" Gene grunted at him. His feet were up on his desk and a bottle of scotch was standing with its cap off, whilst Gene nursed a double measure of the liquid in a glass between his fingertips. His eyes were closed and his head tilted back slightly. Sam ignored him and tried to move his eyes away from the long expanse of neck the Gov was exposing, sitting the way he was.

"I'm surprised you've still got enough glasses left to still drink here" he commented, moving away from the doorway and making his way further inside the office. To his surprise, Gene grinned.

"yeah, well it helps to know the ladies in the canteen - I suppose they've got to be useful at something since they're crap at making anything resembling food" he answered before he lifted his head and actually looked at Sam for the first time.

"Gene, we need to talk" Sam said, acknowledging the shiver of tension that immediately went through his superior.

"What is it with you and _talking _Tyler? Do they teach you to do lots of it in Hyde, do they? It's all you ever want to bloody well do" he took his feet from his desk and reluctantly admitted defeat as he reached down into a box beside his desk and took out another glass. He gestured for Sam to sit down anyway, and when he did he poured him a generous measure of Scotch.

"Talking helps, Gene. It does. A problem shared is a problem halved, and all that" Sam tipped his glass to his Gov and took a sip.

"Well aren't you a regular little Chad Varah. Next you'll be telling me to call MAN 9000 and get it all off my chest" Sam looked at him blankly and Gene rolled his eyes. "Samaritan's, Sammy Boy, Samaritans." Sam snorted and ran a hand over his face. He didn't ask how Gene Hunt knew either the name of the founder of, nor the telephone number for the Samaritans though it did stick at his brain for a long time after the conversation finished.

"I'm just saying, Gov. This is something we need to talk about" he'd finished his drink - probably far too quickly, but he felt the need to be more relaxed than he felt now if he was going to pressure Gene into opening up to him. He reached for the bottle and first topped up the Gov's glass and then his own.

Gene looked at him then, level and unquestioning, for a long time. Then he sighed a sigh more familiar from those with the weight of the world on their shoulders. "Okay Sam, you want to talk? Let's talk." he drained his glass in one gulp and poured himself another.

(information about The Samaritans found out from here: 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: "Of course it bloody isn't normal you pansy!"**

"Move over Oprah" Sam muttered quietly, congratulating himself for making unexpected progress in getting his Governor to open up to him.

"What was that?" Gene asked then, as he made himself more comfortable by replacing his feet on his desk.

"I said I don't like opera" Sam said, saying the first thing that came to his head. He saw the amused expression in Gene's eyes and laughed despite himself. The unplanned comment helped to melt down the icy frost that had begin to set in over the room.

"Bloody too right n'all - no-one sane should be able to stand listening to fat old birds wailing on in some foreign language" Gene stopped for a second "but then again, I don't know about the insane ones who hear voices talking to them from radio sets" he raised his eyebrows at Sam over his glass and Sam felt himself turning slightly pink. "They might actually enjoy it".

"Yeah well. You wouldn't understand about that" he replied defensively. Gene shrugged his shoulders.

"course I wouldn't, Sammy boy. That's entirely your 'issue' as much as beating people up might be mine" he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag on it before he blew the smoke out in a plume above his head.

"So, you and Cartwright" he started and Sam took a breath "she any good in bed?" he asked bluntly.

"Gene!" Sam choked on the sip of Scotch he'd just taken and coughed trying to get his breath.

"what?" Gene asked, looking entirely unbothered on the outside, but his heart beating a little faster on the inside. He didn't really want to know if she was good in bed or not. He didn't really want to think about Sam getting it on with anyone… well, except maybe himself. And those thoughts were strictly not for here and now. Once Sam had cleared his throat he looked at Gene across the desk and tried to figure him out, looking at his body language. Ankles crossed, one arm flung across his chest as the other held the square glass on the desk. The fingers around the glass were slowly clasping and unclasping. He was nervous.

"I wouldn't know" he replied and Gene raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, like that is it - wont let you inside downstairs eh? Always thought she was a prude that one. Probably waiting for you to get married" Gene went on, secretly cheering inside.

"Gene, there _isn't _a 'me and Cartwright'" Sam said then, exasperated at Gene's choice of direction. "You've got the wrong end of the stick, we're just friends". Gene looked at Sam for a minute, considering his next choice of words carefully.

"I've seen the way she looks at you, Tyler - you're mad not to go for her; she obviously wants you". He took a gulp of his drink to hide his nerves. Gene Hunt, nervous. He couldn't believe it. Sam noticed as well, thanks to all those NVC recognition courses he'd been made to sit through back home. He thought about his answer before he opened his mouth.

"well, perhaps she isn't want I want. See, whilst you've been noticing the way she looks at me, you've failed to see the way that I've been looking at you". He drank his glass dry and reached for the bottle for another top up. There was silence in the room for a long time, both men trying to read the other without breaking the silence first.

"I'm married, Sam" Gene eventually spoke up. "I'm not a poof". Sam wasn't entirely surprised at his choice of words.

"You might be married, Gene - but are you in love with your wife?" he asked, softly. Gene licked at his bottom lip and lit up another cigarette.

"she doesn't love me." he replied.

"that isn't what I asked" Sam said and watched Gene's fingers clasp and unclasp around the glass on the desk. Gene coughed.

"She's my wife. I made the vows". He avoided the question again.

"Gene" Sam pushed and it didn't take much.

"No, Sam. I don't love my wife" he admitted in a rush. "But that doesn't mean that I automatically want to go around and start sodomising the first bloke I come across!"

"It's okay, you know" Sam was feeling really rather relaxed now. He'd had four large measures of Scotch and they were making him feel warm and confident. "Back in 20… back in Hyde… y'know.. It's okay to feel what you're feeling. It is normal, Gene"

"Of course it bloody isn't normal you pansy! You're a bloke, I'm a bloke, it isn't right!" Gene stood up suddenly and started pacing around his office whilst Sam watched him. "Damnit Sam, before you, everything was simple. Everything was uncomplicated. Easy. Bad guys were bad, good guys were good. Now you've rolled up and I don't know which way's up or down anymore. I don't even know who I am anymore!" Gene stood in the middle of the room and at that particular instance, looked more vulnerable then Sam imagined he ever could. Sam stood up and moved to stand in front of him.

"I'm confused as well, Gov. I shouldn't even be here, really. Yet here I am in this quite frankly weird place, so far up shit creek but without so much as a twig masquerading as a paddle and I don't know what to do either. I feel like Forest Gump in Vietnam, only I can't run as fast to get away from everything". Gene was staring at him and Sam realised what he'd just said. "Erm, a friend of mine…" he started.

"What type of name is Forest bloody Gump? Bloke deserved to get sent to war with a name like that" Gene cut him off and Sam smiled.

"Doesn't matter. The point is, Gene, Christ I don't have all the answers. But one thing I can say for definite is, I'm not trying to take the team away from you. You've got that wrong as well. You're the Sheriff and they're your team, not mine. We follow you, even if sometimes we use my methods. I promise you, I'm not trying to stamp on your patch". Gene looked at him square in the eyes then, and smiled.

"Good". They were quiet for a minute, just standing inches apart in the middle of DCI Hunt's office, listening to the soud of each other breathing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: "'Resolution' _n_. Solving _of _doubt or problem or question"**

"So" Sam started, not taking his eyes off the Gov as he stood in front of him, noticing that Gene was looking at him with an emotion akin to fear visible in his eyes. "We've acknowledged the fact that whilst I could have a nice, simple uncomplicated relationship with DC Cartwright, I'd much have some disturbing, completely complicated and possibly entirely emotionally draining…" he tried to think of the right word and eventually settled on one which seemed to fit most "…thing with you, and that you're not happy with your wife. What do we do now then?" he asked the older man. Gene shuffled his feet further forwards. His heartbeat was matched beat for beat by Sam's. Sam decided to let Gene make the next move. He'd done enough tonight to allow him that right. He watched as Gene's expression flicked from uncertainty to confidence, to uncertainty and back again before he was pleasantly surprised by Gene reaching forwards and slowly wrapping his hand around the back of Sam's neck and he took another seemingly impossible step forwards, to bring them closer then they'd ever been before. Sam's gaze fell upon Gene's lips, and he saw a tiny flick of his tongue before Gene closed the gap between them entirely, and placed his mouth over Sam's. Kissing Gene Hunt wasn't what Sam had ever expected it to be like. Sam expected a bruising, commanding, killer kiss from his DCI, not a gentle, almost shy hesitant movement that gradually increased as Gene relaxed. This was how he wanted it. Gene gently ran his tongue over Sam's bottom lip before massaging his tongue with his own. Sam's arms found themselves around Gene's neck and he couldn't help the moan of pleasure that rumbled in his throat. God, he'd missed being kissed and kissing someone, he realised then. He missed this feeling of being intimate with someone. And this wasn't just anyone. This was DCI Hunt. And Sam couldn't remember ever feeling so right when it had been Maya pressed against him. Annie hadn't ever got so close. Gene eventually pulled back, in need of air. Sam smiled at him and was greeted with a smile in return.

"See" Sam said quietly then "not half as scary as you thought it would be" he was rewarded with an almost giggle like sound coming from Gene's mouth before it was one again placed over Sam's. More heated this time, Sam realised he was being walked backwards and found his back met the wall of Gene's office. He pulled back quickly and reluctantly, but with a need to say something that he couldn't resist.

"you seem to have a thing about pinning me against walls, DCI Hunt" he said, a grin on his face that told said DCI Hunt that he really had not a single problem with it. Gene laughed before dipping his head back down to kiss the area of exposed neck beneath Sam's ear, which replaced the smile on his face with a groan as Sam pulled gently at the hair at the back of Gene's head, which seemed to spur him on further. Sam had to admit, as he felt his knees nearly buckle as Gene traced a line of kisses across his jaw, that there might be something worth hanging around in 1973 for after all.

"You'll have to sort out a pay rise for whoever it is that has to clean your office. Poor woman must see some right horrors in here first thing in the morning" Sam laughed much later on that night, as he looked around at the scattered objects which had been cast aside from Gene's desk.

"Maybe later eh?" Gene smiled at him, before reaching up again and brushing his lips over Sam's, pulling his head down again and cutting off any further conversation from the younger man. Sam could only grin happily into the kiss as he tightened his hold on Gene's shoulders. Everything could wait until later. What mattered was here, now, and the man beneath him who had his legs wrapped around him kissing him as though the end of the world was coming in the morning.

**The End **

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